


Chapter Seven: Who Made You God?

by CavalierConvoy



Series: MTMTE Series One: Shoot Straight with a Crooked Gun [8]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers Generation One, Transformers Generation Two, Transformers: Beast Machines, Transformers: Beast Wars
Genre: Bromance, Decapitation, Gen, Good Cop Bad Cop, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Investigations, Other, Parallels, Red Herrings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-04
Packaged: 2018-03-10 13:17:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3291710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CavalierConvoy/pseuds/CavalierConvoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Back on the <i>Lost Light</i>, Red Alert's body is found in the reservoir, the investigation on the fuel cells takes a back burner -- and it doesn't help that the bar's closed for a private party.  </p><p>(Parallel to "Shadowplay")</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chapter Seven: Who Made You God?

Devastation, ruined fields lay before you  
Inconceivable, the damage done in plain view  
—["Who Made You God?"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNquu6YpJuo) by Spetsnaz, from _For Generations to Come_

The _Lost Light_  
Now

Red Alert was still not answering his pings.

Artemis met up with Trailcutter in front of Swerve's, in agreement that they needed a top-off before continuing the investigation.

Even though Artemis guessed Whirl's password on the first try, Rewind vetoed entry, chasing out the two much larger Autobots amid protests. Really could not fault him when the two 'bots started firing shots, the jokes and heckles commenced. Besides, they did not fit the current equation.

"What do you think he meant by that?" Artemis questioned as the door slid closed behind them. Trailcutter shrugged with an exhale that could have been "I dunno..." "What did he mean by equation? What's the common denominator? Whirl, Chromedome, Rewind — "

"Drift and Skids as well. Swerve and Tailgate, too."

"Hey, Doc!" Artemis greeted as Ratchet approached them. "You know what's going on in there?"

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you not to call me 'Doc'!" Ratchet growled.

"Well, I can't very well call you 'Sunshine', can I?"

Trailcutter snorted a laugh. Ratchet was not amused. "I liked you better when you were sullen and aloof," the medic snarled.

"I'm such a bad influence," Trailcutter admitted with a cock-eyed grin. "By the way, nice hands."

"Still didn't answer my question," Artemis reminded.

Ratchet glared at the two before shouldering past them, knocking on the door.

"Oh, so you get an invitation," Trailcutter drawled.

"I don't know," Ratchet countered, "I was invited for a story circle, something about cross-examining and deciphering truths from hear-say."

"Password?" Whirl demanded from the other side of the door.

"'Whirl is a million billion times tougher than Cyclonus,'" Artemis recited.

The door slid open, and Whirl pointed his single opticked gaze at Artemis before whining, "Dammit, boss, I can't let you in!"

"Whose brain-damaged idea was it to let Whirl to be the door bot?" Ratchet grumbled, pushing past the empurata.

"Can we at least top off?" Artemis shouted past the door.

Rewind sneaked under Whirl's arm and glared up at the two larger bots, pointing an accusatory finger at Artemis, then Trailcutter. "Between the two of you, I'm certain you can scrounge up enough engex to keep yourselves occupied for the next half-century. If we need you, we'll call for you. 'Till then — " he waved them away.

"Boss will kick my aft if I don't let her in," Whirl pointed out. Rewind glared at him. Holding up his claws, Whirl returned his attention to the black and chrome Autobot. "Sorry, boss. The midget has spoken." The door slid closed.

"Well," Trailcutter sighed, "we can still hunt down friends and hit the observation lounge."

"Probably should find Red first," Artemis suggested. "Then we can clock out and get blitzed."

Trailcutter received a ping on his datapad; checking the message, he made a face. "Grapple's still held up at the reservoir."

"So we have Hoist, and...well, all my friends are in the speakeasy."

"Not all of them." Trailcutter bumped shoulders with her. "So, you think one of these sols we'll be able to convince your boy to drink with us?"

"Magnus?" She chuckled, but shook her head. "I'm glad that we've got a truce, but...well, we've always been from different walks. And he doesn't imbibe."

"I don't know if you've ever noticed, Art," he grinned, "but on surface missions? You get squad leadership. He wouldn't let you lead a squad if he didn't trust you."

"You do realise who he puts in my squads, right? All the loose cannons?"

"And you love it. It's as close as you can to having your Wreckers again, and he knows it. And he knows that you'll bring them back alive. I mean," Trailcutter hitched his thumb back to the bar, "Whirl calls you 'boss', on and off the field. Anyone who can inspire someone as jaded as him without resorting to brigging him is saying something."

"Well that and I can and will ambush him if I think he deserves it. But push through his gasholery, he's a half-way decent 'bot," Artemis retorted. "Why have we been picking on Whirl today?"

"We aren't. But you're ready to defend him, regardless of whatever got him kicked out of the Wreckers in the first place."

"You, my friend, see things on the positive, don't you?" Artemis grinned. "I should tell you about how Magnus and I made our peace — that's one I save for my close friends."

"'Close friends?'"

I don't have many of those, mind," she continued. "I have a hard time with trust issues. But yeah, I think I could count you in there."

Drift rushed past from the direction of the bar in a panic. The heavier-duty Autobots looked at one another for a brief moment before bolting after him.

"Oi, Drift! What's going on?" Artemis demanded.

"Don't know — something at the reservoir!" He turned once in mid-run to regard the two security bots, then continued on his path.

"Where Grapple is," Trailcutter reminded.

"Huh," Artemis picked up her pace, "might as well check it out — we're still on the clock."

 

*

 

Staring down at Red Alert's headless body, the first horrified thought through Artemis's brain was, _Dear Primus, we did it. We finally pushed him over the edge._

"Did he say anything to you two this morning?" Rodimus demanded. He was just as freaked as she and Trailcutter, but kept it better contained — barely.

"Other than give us hell for drinking on the job?" Trailcutter muttered, his hand shaking; both he and Artemis were resisting the pull of the flask, out of respect. His concentration was to stay near Grapple as a source for comfort. "He did say we would be the death of him."

"That doesn't explain the decapitation," Artemis covered her mouth as she crouched down to examine the body. "Who else did he see after us?"

"We've got Blaster looking in on it," Drift stated, crouching next to the black and chrome Autobot. "But knowing Red, he's the one who set up the security system, which means he knows where the blind spots are."

"We can rule out a blade," Artemis observed, pointing to the gaping neck. She forced down her discomfort in the situation. "But it's too clean to be anything blunt, or ripped with brute strength. We may have to ask the medical team to look into this."

"First Aid's on his way," Rodimus explained. "In the meantime, we see if we can find Red's head." He grimaced at his own rhyme.  
Grapple, too, whimpered.

"Check the cameras in the corridor," Artemis suggested, "anyone coming in and out should have been caught on file. And it would be hard to drag a body in here without anyone noticing, which means likely whoever did this brought Red in here alive."

First Aid, with Ambulon on his heels, entered the reservoir, both carrying kits. "Check on Grapple for ASD symptoms," First Aid ordered Ambulon with a gesture as he approached Red Alert's corpse. "Everyone else all right?"

"Wee bit tweaked over here, but fine," Trailcutter answered, keeping a hand on Grapple's shoulder as the nurse checked on the shell-shocked architect. "Hey, buddy, let him know what's going on. You've been a huge help in this, and Ambulon here's gonna help you when you need it, okay?"

"Artemis?" First Aid prompted.

"I'll allow myself to be horrified when I get off-duty," she muttered, sifting through the facts available, and questions that could be relevant to the investigation. "Has Magnus been informed?"

"He hasn't returned yet," Drift stated, deflecting her question.

"I thought we could handle this investigation without having to call him back," Rodimus continued. "Temptoria's been escalating since we got word of Decepticon activity there. Between all of us here, we should be able to keep this under control."

"We need to get Red to Medibay," First Aid ordered. "There may be a chance we can save him, but I need to get him on life support, and we need to find his head."

"Drift, help First Aid and Ambulon with Red," Rodimus ordered, a new hope in his voice. "Grapple, I know it's hard, but — "

"No, I'll help. I'll do what I can," Grapple nodded, using Ambulon's shoulder as a crutch to push him to his feet. "If there's a chance — "

"That's the spirit!" The young captain smiled. Rodimus's optimism was infectious with the others, but Artemis kept her reservations to herself. "'Cutter, Art, mind joining me for a moment?"

Trailcutter looked up, nodded and, patting Grapple on the shoulder, headed over to join his partner and captain.

"Can you tell me what happened when you last saw Red?" Rodimus questioned.

"He had us looking for whoever stolen some fuel cells off the MARBs," Trailcutter explained. "From Shuttle Bay Eleven."

"Most of the cameras were knocked out after our last weapons test," Artemis continued. "But they weren't repaired, which is —"

"—Not like Red," Rodimus agreed. "Fuel cells from the MARBs? Why would anyone want to use those? I mean, we used to make flash-bangs out of them back in Nyon during the Clampdown, but they did little damage, just a lot of noise and light. Might take out a hand if one wasn't careful, but other than that...."

"Which is exactly what Perceptor and Brainstorm said. I had checked with Cavalier, who didn't know about the damaged cameras — "

Rodimus frowned. " — which is also not like her — "

"With someone as paranoid as Red — sorry, buddy — one would assume that he'd get right on the repair and replacement of those cameras," Trailcutter stated.

"And if it's a weakness that doesn't directly involve Cav, she won't notice it." Artemis added.

Rodimus held up a hand. "You might want to try staying somewhere north of sober for the next couple of sols; I'm gonna need you both for crowd control when this goes public. It won't take long."

"Problem is, we can't outright lie about it, either, or morale will be questioned," Trailcutter pointed out.

"Accident, Red's in ICU. Issue is pressed, say the investigation is ongoing, but it appears accidental." Artemis crossed her arms over her chest.

"And if the issue is further pressed?" Rodimus questioned.

She granted him a stern glare. "You tell me what happens when someone further presses an issue with me."

Rodimus held up his hands. "Hey, there are 'bots on board who've never seen you in action."

Trailcutter coughed. "I think it's safe to say that Art's reputation as the second-to-last person to poke with a stick has been duly established."

"We'll get to the bottom of this," Rodimus assured. "'Cutter, might be a good idea to let Art do the talking."

"It's something Cav calls 'roll for intimidation'." Artemis directed her next question to Rodimus. "I'm assuming you'll inform Magnus?"

"When he returns from his current objective," Rodimus nodded. "The three of us will take up the investigation from here."  
He meant the three commanding officers. "Understood," Artemis took Trailcutter's elbow and steered him to the door. "Keep us posted."

Trailcutter waited until they were outside before protesting. "You let that slide quick. What's up?"

"Something's not jiving," she admitted. "The dead cameras — why would Red let them sit for so long?"

"Yeah, that does seem out of character. But knowing Red, he's usually ten steps ahead of everyone else. Perhaps he was trying to keep us out of the way? Entirely possible he didn't — doesn't — trust us to not cock it up."

"Maybe," she was unconvinced. "Still, just seems too big an oversight to go that long without repairing the surveillance systems — especially when we regularly do slag we're not supposed to in there."

"That isn't the only thing on your mind, is it?"

"I don't think Rod and Drift knows what they're doing," she muttered. "Rod was just this side of freaking out himself. He'll lose it when he gets to his office, and Drift will talk him down. And then they'll try to handle it themselves."

"I know that look," Trailcutter pointed a finger at her nose. "That look you get when you plan on going your own way on things. When I have to go in behind you and pull your aft out of trouble."

"Just thinking of ways to stall the boys from doing something stupid before Magnus returns, all without impeding the investigation or rousing suspicion."

"You don't think they'll keep Magnus in the loop?"

"No, they'll tell him — they have no choice. They may be thinking they can handle this themselves, but they know that if they don't tell him, I will."

Trailcutter smiled. "Now you got that look."

"What look?"

"That look, the one you never get unless you're referring to the big guy. It's the same look Drift gets when talking about the Cee-Oh-Ell, and Xaaron about Primus. That's the look of unwaivering faith."

She barked a laugh. "That's not faith, 'Cutter; that's truth. If there's only one constant in the universe, it's that if Magnus gets involved, slag gets done, gets done right, and gets done fast."

Next Chapter:Blinded, Betrayed, and Forgotten


End file.
